Hi I was wondering how big a dry lot for two horses has to be? my one horse is on a 1/3 acre right now and it's awfully muddy and messy for a few weeks of the year and Dusty in summer. He only uses half right now. I would like to get another horse some time so I'd like to make it big enough for two horses now so I dont have to redo it later. It has to be big enough for them to live for days with out being turned out or ridden. I read 400-500 sq ft per horse but that seems a bit small for my situation. What kind of fencing would I need? i was also thinking of putting down some kind of footing so I need help with that and I would LOVE to see pics of other people's dry lots. How do you manage?
Thanks for taking the time.

We don't have a dry lot, but we have kept four mares in our riding ring for days. It's 100x200 (20,000 sq ft), so 500 sq ft/horse, and that's more than enough room without them being crowded for a corral/pen.
For fencing, I prefer corral panels. Quick, easy, and you can always move/rearrange them. They're not cheap, but sometimes you can find used ones that are still in good condition. Otherwise, I would use good, no climb wire horse fencing with a strand of electric at the top.

We don't have a dry lot, but we have kept four mares in our riding ring for days. It's 100x200 (20,000 sq ft), so 500 sq ft/horse, and that's more than enough room without them being crowded for a corral/pen.

That's 5,000 sq ft per horse. 500 sq ft is only 10x50. I have runs on my barn that are 15x40 (600sq ft). They work but if they don't get out for days because of weather or my work schedule, they are climbing the walls. You only have about 14,500 sq ft to work with or an area about 100x150ft. What do you have to keep in that area? Only the horses? Dealing with mud is an ongoing problem when you have to confine them to a small area. One of the keys is to limit how much they can move around when there is mud. Walking stirs things up making it worse. I would look at making small feeding pens/holding areas at the high point of the pen. You can do as small as 12x12 (the size of a stall). Put down something like roadbase and slope it so the water runs out of the 1/3 acre (not into it). Covering the 12x12 area plus no water running into the pen and you won't have a mud problem there. The fencing has to be solid and able to withstand abuse. Panels, pipe or boards no wire or hot tape for the small area. You can use wire for the larger area to save money. Give it a day before you let the horses out of jail for the turnout area to firm up after it stops raining and even in heavy clay, there will be a dramatic decrease in the mud.

If they get daily turnout on a pasture except when wet, would 30x30 or 20x50ft work per horse? I would really like to turn the rest of the 1/3 acre dry lot into additional pasture.

Is that additional or all they have? If you give them 1000 Sq ft each, that leaves you about 1/4 acre "pasture". That's going to last about 10 minutes to grazing. You can make it work but you will have to really stay on top of things and give them 2-3 hours of grazing a day tops weather permitting. That's plenty of out time for most horses.

Is that additional or all they have? If you give them 1000 Sq ft each, that leaves you about 1/4 acre "pasture". That's going to last about 10 minutes to grazing. You can make it work but you will have to really stay on top of things and give them 2-3 hours of grazing a day tops weather permitting. That's plenty of out time for most horses.

No I wanted to get another pasture about 1 1/2 acres. Ok I just have one horse now and I was wondering if 20x 20 ft attached to a 16x 15 ft stall would be big enough to spend 12 hours in?

I want my horse to be happy. right now, his paddock is a real mess and he's messy~ his coat is dirty and muddy- and in summer it(the paddock) will probably turn into a dust bowl and hurt his respiratory system if I dont do anything now. Sorry if I sound dramatic.

We would all love for our horses to be out wandering in beautiful pastures 24/7 but the truth of the matter is just about none of us have that available to us. You've got to make do with what you have and your horse will adapt to it. Many horses have a lot less and don't suffer because of it. The first thing to do is figure out the mud part. Where does all the water come from? Is it coming off a roof? Is it the low spot so everything drains towards it? Does it come from the next property? You can divert and build berms and ditches to keep the water from getting into your pen. Creating a buffer of grasses, plants and trees will help keep the water back as well. Next identify an area that is higher than the rest of the pen. Where does it dry first? Build your small pens there. Add something like roadbase or pea gravel to help it drain. You can only do so much at a time but getting rid of the mud will go a long way.

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